Guillermo Del Toro has added his voice to the growing acclaim for the new Apple TV+ horror comedy series Widow's Bay. The Oscar-winning director of The Shape of Water delivered a glowing review of the 10-episode show, which stars Matthew Rhys as a small-town New England mayor desperate to boost tourism on his beleaguered island, believed by locals to be cursed.
Del Toro's Praise
Writing on X, Del Toro declared: "If I may- in my estimation- #WidowsBay may very well be the best streaming series in a long time… and hands down one of the most mesmerizing acts of narrative prestidigitation in Horror." The term "prestidigitation" refers to close-up magic, often known as sleight of hand. He later retweeted another user who praised the show, writing: "This show is so perfect. I love the comedy horror balance and the characters are fascinating. I'm on the flashback episode and it's like stumbling upon a great horror movie! There's so many SECRETS I can't wait to find out what's going on with this island."
Critical Acclaim
The series, which also features Dale Dickey, Kevin Carroll, Stephen Root, Kate O'Flynn, and Kingston Rumi Southwick, has earned a perfect 100 percent score on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes shortly after its debut. Critics have highlighted Rhys's "top-notch physical comedy" as a key strength, while struggling to pigeonhole the show into a single genre, instead calling it "singular."
RadioTimes's Louise Griffin, awarding four stars, praised the show's "twists, reveals and outright surreal moments." She noted: "In a sea of TV series competing to be the most cinematic production on the small screen, it's refreshing to see Apple TV invest in a small-town comedy that scales things right back." Griffin acknowledged the difficulty of the comedy-horror genre but applauded Widow's Bay as a "neat, off-beat offering" that strikes the right balance.
Similarly, Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter commended Rhys for "anchoring" the "intriguingly creepy, oddly cozy, unevenly effective horror-comedy." She added: "At its best, Widow's Bay highlights the blurry line between comedy and horror. But if Widow's Bay excels at setting a tone of pervasive oddness ... it's less reliable at converting that tension into catharsis."
The first seven episodes of Widow's Bay are streaming now on Apple TV+, with new episodes released every Wednesday through June 17.
